Post them up and every so often I'll snaffle them and put them on the blog, if that's okay? It'll save you the trouble of emailing them to me. (It will mean you lose out on our charming personal interaction but I sense you can live with that.)

Our cookery (sorry Food Tech!) teacher is bringing me in some German Friendship Cake tomorrow, from what Ive read he will be bringing me a sourdough mix which I have to nurture for 8 days then separate into four portions, keep one for myself and turn it into something wonderful and give three portions away to friends. Kind of like a cake chain, which Im loving the sound of!

Has anyone ever been involved in one of these and what can I make at the end of it? Does anyone have any good friendship cake recipes?

I have been involved in one...MIL gave me one to take home on 3/12...so my 10 days are up & I should have cooked whatever it is & passed on 3 portions...except it is still in the boot of the car...I think...so probably dead. There was a letter/recipe to go with it that gives you a few options. It's a sourdough cake apparently...whatever that is...Can you tell how pleased I was that MIL gave me extra work when I'm so busy?!!

I've got one on the go at the moment (I kept one of the portions so I could make more). I made mine into an apple cake which is lovely, pretty simular to dorset apple cake. You can add loads to them though. My mum made a pinapple one which was yummy!

We've got one on the go, currently on 3rd incarnation. Have attached our instructions, which worked well. I made it in a big shallow spring-ring cake tin.

Herman is the starter culture for a sourdough cake. He needs to live on the worktop and not in the fridge, if he stops bubbling he has died.

Day 1 Herman is given to you. Pour him into a large non-metallic bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.Day 2 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoon Day 3 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoonDay 4 Herman is hungry; give him – 200ml milk, 150g plain flour, 225g sugarDay 5 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoonDay 6 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoonDay 7 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoonDay 8 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoonDay 9 Herman is hungry again. Give him – 200ml milk, 150g plain flour, 225g sugar. Share him into 4 equal portions and give two little Hermans away with a copy of these instructions. Keep one portion to grow again and one to bake.Day 10 Herman is absolutely starving. Give him 8oz/225g sugar, 9oz/250g plain flour, 2 beaten eggs, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp baking powder, 180ml/5fl oz sunflower oil, 2 small apples cut into small chunks, a handful of dried fruit. If required, add a bit of extra milk until you have a mixture with a soft dropping consistency.

Now Herman likes to go to a hot resort, the oven will do. Pre heat the oven to 180oC/Gas mark 4. Mix everything together and pour him into a cake tin (10″ x 12″ baking tray). Leave him in the oven for about 45-50 mins. Herman is now ready to eat.

I got one just after LM born but the idea of it coming from random people's houses grossed me out a bit so I killed Herman.

Then someone else invited us round to formally receive another Herman in so I felt obliged to see it through.Big M LOVED being in charge of Herman, even if it meant only stirring him each day.Then when we cooked him he was a huge hit with everyone who tried him. I still have some in the freezer but when Little M eats any his nappies stink!

It does make a good moist cake and you can add all sorts of things to it. I didn't add the brown sugar and butter on the top but it was still nice. Makes the house smell lovely and ut's nice to invite friends round on the day you cook it to pass on the uncooked portions and sample your cooked Herman.

But am I the only one who worries about receiving something that's been festering away on who knows whose side???

I remember doing this when I was at school! It was great fun! I would only do it with people I knew though, like Blossom said, I wouldn't want to accept it off any old Joe although I guess the fermentation process would kill off any bugs.

So how do you start Herman off then? I'd like to start one, but haven't been given Herman, so what do I create him from?

My MIL also used to do something similar with a drink, komboucha tea or something?

W, yes I told myself the fermentation process and cooking would kill germs... but I just didn't like the idea of eating something that a small fraction of had been to sooo many people's houses. Silly really because I bet if I knew what I'd eaten in my time I would never dine out again! And the fun outweighed the tiny risk.